The Chrysler K-Car Club

Hello all i am new to the k-car club.

I have a 1985 Chrysler LeBaron 2.2L TBI which is still in beautiful shape, hardly any rust. It will start but will not idle, will tach up in park or neutral and sound normal but as soon as you put it in gear (under load) will stall and has no power to pull itself out of its own way, I have had it to two separate mechanics and it has stumped both of them. The List of items recently replaced include but are not limited to, intake gaskets, timing belt, fuel injector, MAP sensor, TPS sensor, distributor, belts hoses, radiator, coil, Air filter, Fuel Filter, Fuel Pump and ECM. Got the car with only 67,000 miles 2 years ago and it has just over a 100,000 miles on it now. After the intake leak, Fuel injector and MAP Sensor were replaced about a year ago it just ran great, and then one day going down the road lost power going up a hill and hasn’t moved under it’s own power since. The cruise control quit working shortly before this happened but can't seem to locate a vacuum leak anywhere. Any suggestions would be helpful at this point. I have too much invested to just scrap it out but would be willing to sell for parts if the price is right. You would have a hard time finding doors fenders etc. as clean and straight as these. Thanks in advance for your help!!! VonZipper

Hello vonzipper. Welcome to the club. So, do you have the overrated easy to find convertible, or the near extinct coupe or sedan? I would love to see some pictures. If you'd like, please email
them to me at aries89@chryslerkcar.com. Someone should answer your tech question shortly, but if not, email me at aries89@chryslerkcar.com and I will get you to a tech.

Sincerely,
Guy V.Coulombe
The Chrysler K-Car Club
www.chryslerkcar.com
CKCC President and founder
818-219-2587

Hi and welcome to the club,

I suspect the problem you are having is related to the AIS (Automatic Idle Speed) motor system on the throttle body. It's getting hard to find mechanics today who understand these cars and having a factory service manual is really needed.

Also, see if the computer is showing any codes related to the AIS system. Without starting the engine turn the ignition key ON-OFF-ON-OFF-ON and the power loss light will flash out two digit error codes. No need to get rid of the car, just find the issue with the AIS system. Could be anything from dirt, a frozen AIS motor to an open wire.

From the description of your problems, it seems like you have a Vehicle Speed sensor that has gone bad, It along with the TPS control quite a bit of the idling function. If the speed sensor dies, your cruise control might go out as well! i HAVE LEARNED THIS RECENT AND FROM A LITTLE RESEARCH ON ALLPAR. I am going to be changing mine at the end of this week as well.

....

Thanks for all the input, I have the rare 85 Le Baron Sedan, I have run the computer codes and nothing about the AIS was present, have tried distributor as well, also one of my mechanics had previously gutted the catalytic converter, I will check timing (jumped tooth) next....stay tuned and I will see if I can round up some photos for ya. This AIS thing has me curious as well as vehicle speed sensor, being as they have not been replaced or checked...thanks again

vonzipper wrote: ..... I have run the computer codes and nothing about the AIS was present ....

Any fault codes at all currently present?

No fault codes at all, I spoke with my mechanic last night and he was looking at fuel pressure, he thinks fuel pressure regulator is bad, says he got good pressure from pump but it is returning too much fuel to the tank via return line...if he pinches off return line he says it runs good until it starts to load up from too much fuel.

Pictures, please, oh email me pictures at aries89@chryslerkcar.com.